I was glad to see U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist., defend the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to fight global warming by voting against what I call the “Polluter Protection Act” (HR 3826) last week.

The House-passed bill, the “Electricity Security and Affordability Act,” would prevent the EPA from reducing carbon pollution from power plants, the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution.

Scientists say that events like Hurricane Sandy foreshadow what could be a new normal of extreme weather unless we reign in global warming pollution. Power plants have limits on arsenic, lead, and mercury, but there are no federal limits on their dangerous carbon pollution.

The importance of federal action is paramount — one power plant in Georgia puts out more pollution than all of New Jersey’s power plants combined.

Areas like the Jersey Shore are especially at risk to unregulated carbon pollution. Prolonged heat waves and projected sea level rise resulting from climate change, which is directly related to carbon pollution, could have devastating effects on the health of beach tourism and shore businesses.

LoBiondo stood up for science by opposing this bill, but unfortunately, the majority of the House of Representatives did not. I hope the Senate has better sense and defeats this attack on protecting our climate.